Preludes - Southwark Playhouse

Torn whether to see this or the woman in black but I am quite scared of scary things but I think its such a staple of the west end that I haven't seen but I have listened to the recording and it sounds very cool

I loved Preludes more but The Woman in Black is a very solid play that will be less of a risk. If you like the cast recording and go in expecting a non-conventional show though then there should be little risk in seeing this and I think it's a more interesting night at the theatre (also Lord knows how long the Woman in Black will be on for so there'll be plenty of other opportunities to see it).

The Woman In Black is also touring, if that helps...

www.thewomaninblack.com/ticket-info/uk-tour

Although seeing it in it's Fortune home does make it extra effective 😀

Just had a call. Cancelled tonight too

I saw this last night and found it an interesting musical. Very watchable, but you would have to be in the right mood for it.

It isn't a traditional musical by any sense, but it is easy to follow, performed by a cast of eight actors and musicians. I can't imagine many people wanting to watch it more than once.

View from the front row was good. You can read every one of Keith Ramsay's tattoos. Keith comes across as ideally suited for the lead role, although it's really Tom Noyes at the piano who holds everything together.

The theatre was about half full. Quite a few sounds of glasses being knocked over during the evening, one of the downsides of going to a venue with a plastic-free bar (although I fully applaud the Southwark Playhouse for making that decision).

It's the morning after and I can't remember any of the songs, but in the moment, they seemed to work. Quite worth a visit if you're in the mood for something experimental occasional.

Stasia, were you sat on the front row last night and did you stand at the end?

I thought you looked familiar but couldn't quite place why.

If so, I was sat two or three seats along the row from you.

Really enjoyed this. Glad I made the decision based on comments here to ditch my plans to see Bartholemew Fair at the Globe and see this on the last opportunity I had!

Let's start with a few plaudits. The cast are fantastic and the design is stunning - probably the best ever at Southwark. Oh, and Tom Noyes is a fantastic pianist, not just for getting round the notes of this very challenging music, but for committing it all to memory and playing it so expressively.
But....I didn't really enjoy it at all. Maybe I'm just too involved in Rachmaninov's music which I have now been teaching, playing and listening to for nearly fifty years that I found this mash up of his great music and Dave Malloy's own lack-lustre efforts/arrangements so annoying and unsatisfying. Before the interval the pianist starts an exquisite bit from the 2nd Piano Concero which morphs into a song for Natalya but it just doesn't work since it sounds like something rejected from 'Wicked.' Towards the end of Act 2 Malloy seems to channel his inner Philip Glass and give us ten minutes of waffle all on one chord that tried my patience to the limit. I assume he was trying to produce a hypnotic effect but it was just self indulgent and dull.

A play with music that attempted to get into the mind of the composer would have worked much better, but by the interval I just thought 'This is pretentious twaddle' and nothing in the 2nd half changed that view.

Oh gosh, I was going to go again tonight after it was cancelled last week halfway through due to rain leaking in. With the weather I didn’t bother so I’m glad I didn’t now!
Hope it will be able to continue for you.

Sounds like it's a good idea that they're moving soon then.

This was quite the most bizarre but also one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen. As mentioned above, it was very hot during the first half and I was tired so found trouble engaging. But the second half was stunning, the wedding scene sublime and when the brilliant pianist started, after the hypnosis, on the theme from the 2nd piano concerto, I was in floods. Really worth seeing as a theatrical event.

One question, why did they make the therapist a women? Was it just for a bit of gender balance? Rebecca Caine was great, wish she had got to sing a bit more.

I found it really hot in the bar area last weekend, but once inside the auditorium it was fine. The rain may be more of a problem... no idea if they've managed to patch the roof yet!